Ian Lamont's Blog, page 5

Genealogy Basics In 30 Minutes now available!

[image error]Publisher i30 Media today launched Genealogy Basics In 30 Minutes: The quick guide to creating a family tree, building connections with relatives, and discovering the stories of your ancestors (ISBN: 9781939924681). Authored by professional genealogist Shannon Combs-Bennett, the book explains the joys, challenges, and triumphs of researching family origins. It aims to help people who are new to genealogy as well as those who have casually gathered information about their ancestors over the ye...

Twitter In 30 Minutes reviewed by Night Owl Reviews

Not long ago Twitter In 30 Minutes received one of its first professional reviews. NowPamela Robinson of Night Owl Reviews has published a review, which you can see on the Night Owl site. This is what she had to say:

Ian Lamont is good at breaking down steps and organizing directions so that anyone can understand them. Twitter is a part of social media that seems to be here to stay. Knowing how to not only create an account, but to use it effectively is important.

This book goes through the s...

New genealogy book now available for preorder

[image error]Genealogy Basics In 30 Minutes is now available for preorder via Amazon (Kindle/Paperback). This genealogy book is a great resource for people who are interested in learning about their roots, but are concerned about confusingtools and ancestry research methods. Genealogy Basics In 30 Minutes breaks it all down, starting with a simple approach to building out a family tree. It also describesvarious ways to gather information, including:

The types of vital records and non-vital documents to l...

My lean publishing advice to a prospective guidebook author

The essence of lean media is eliminating waste and bringing audiences closer to creators.So when a prospective guidebook author queried me about setting up a publishing company to publish a series of guides about state parks in his region, here’s what I advised:

If the demand is there, I would definitely consider doing such a series. I would first try to determine what the demand is, based on things like state park attendance (which is probably publicly available somewhere) and the competitio...

In 30 Minutes guides featured in the Midwest Book Review

In 30 Minutes guides receivedword today that two new books — LinkedIn In 30 Minutes (2nd Edition) by Angela Rose and Twitter In 30 Minutes (3rd Edition) by Ian Lamont — were reviewed in the May 2016 Midwest Book Review.

In the world of professional book reviews, Midwest Book Review has been a respected source for reviews since the 1970s. They don’t take payment for reviews, which insulatesthe reviewers from commercial considerations. We are honored to be picked for inclusion!

The Midwest Book...

Lean media and books: Which cover works for you?

When it comes to Lean Media and books, there are a few approaches for creators to tap test audiences for insights.

One involves the use of beta readers. As recounted in On Writing and elsewhere, author Stephen King turns to a small group of beta readers (including his wife and “ideal reader,” the novelist Tabitha King) and listens very carefully to what they have to say:

In addition to Tabby’s first read, I usually send manuscripts to between four and eight other people who have critiqued my...

Working with Photos and iCloud Photo Library on macOS/OS X

When it comes to photos, the digital revolution has been a blessing and a curse. It is so darned easy to take photos, yet it’s so *&^$% hard to organize them. A lot of people either don’t know how to transfer photos from their smartphones and cameras to computers and tablets — or they can’t be bothered. Who wants to deal with cables, import settings, albums, and all of the other details?Apple has tried to take away some of the pain with Photos, the photo organizing application for OS X (

Q&A with Ian Lamont, i30 Media founder and publisher

Ian Lamont is the founder of i30 Media. In this Q&A, Lamont discusses some of the issues independent publishers face in a rapidly evolving industry.

For the first question of the Q&A, please tell us about i30 Media and In 30 Minutes guides.

i30 Media was established in 2013, and our mainproduct isthe In 30 Minutes series of guides. Some of the titles I have written myself,but there are a half-dozen otherauthors including Angela Rose, who wrote the second edition ofLinkedIn In 30 Minutes.

What...

New product line: In 30 Minutes video classes

Publisher i30 Media ispleased to announce a new product line: In 30 Minutes video classes.We’re starting with the Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes video course (For a limited time, available at a 25% discount here), but will expand to other topics soon. You can learn more about the Google Drive and Docsvideo here, and we will also distribute the class to other online educational platforms.

The idea for In 30 Minutes video classes has been around almost as long as the book series. Around th...

Google Play Books: So much promise, so few results

I’ve lamented the state of competition in theebook platform wars in the past.

Take Apple, which had so much going for it 3 or 4 years ago compared to Amazon, with a vastly superior e-reader (the iPad using iBooks) and sales that regularly topped $200 per month for my In 30 Minutes series of how-to guides.Apple’s hardware/softwareadvantage did not last.Amazon eventuallyclosed the hardware gap with the Kindle Fire, and continued to make improvements to the Kindle software and ordering processes...